CHAPTER LIII
LIGHTING.

EVERY hospital should be lighted with gas, and the necessary pipes for its distribution should be put in during the progress of the erection of the building. If gas cannot be conveniently obtained from a company's works, it may be made on the premises without difficulty, by persons who are necessarily employed for other purposes, and at a cost that will render it cheaper than any other kind of illumination. In addition to the economy of its use, the thorough lighting of a hospital for the insane has really a remedial effect, and gas is certainly the safest, neatest, and in all respects, most convenient mode of effecting it. The retorts for manufacturing the gas can be conveniently placed in the basement of the detached building, hereafter to be more particularly referred to, or preferably in an entirely separate one for this special purpose, and it can be thoroughly ventilated through the main shaft in its immediate vicinity. The gas-holder should be of sufficient size to contain the quantity required for several days' consumption, although it may be best to keep the works from becoming entirely cold by making some gas every day.